Though we sadly won’t be seeing Never Let Me Go director Mark Romanek’s take on Cinderella, it appears that the filmmaker has found a promisingly dark piece of material for his next project. Variety reports that Romanek is in negotiations to take the helm of the crime drama Boston Strangler for Warner Bros. Casey Affleck came aboard to executive produce and star in the project last year, and the film tells the true story of a detective trying to solve the titular case of a notorious Boston serial killer in the early 1960s. The tone is described as being in the vein of Seven and Zodiac, which is fitting given that Romanek is good friends with David Fincher.

The One Hour Photo filmmaker has flirted with larger properties in recent years, having developed both The Wolfman and Disney’s upcoming Cinderella before dropping out of both films over creative differences, but Boston Strangler feels like a film on which Romanek could comfortably stretch his creative instincts.

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